Carp Fishing in America
Not many distinguished visitors stop in the village of Montgomery, Illinois. Thill, a member of the angling team that won the 1982 World Club Championship, is leading a school of fishermen in the fourth annual Mid-West Team Challenge. The winners get to represent the U.S. at next summer’s world championships in Italy.
A few minutes before the end of the break, Thill realizes he needs to talk strategy with a teammate who’s setting up far downstream. He looks around desperately for a quick form of transportation.
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“Kind of an eccentric guy, isn’t he?” says the bemused fan from Sugar Grove.
Once he’s found the spot where he wants to drop his hook, Thill chums it, sprinkling a salad of bread crumbs, cornmeal, and “two secret ingredients” on the surface. It’s like tossing hundred-dollar bills onto the floor of the General Assembly. The fish swarm round.
“This is the Michael Jordan of bank fishing,” a man whispers to his son in a golf announcer tone.
To outwit their slippery fish, English anglers developed the float, a long, thin buoy that’s lighter than a bobber and easier for a fish to pull beneath the surface. Fish may shy away from bait held up by a bobber because they can’t suck hard enough to yank down the beach-ball-shaped implement.
